Undergrads making a difference

Charytonowics named 2014 Goldwater Scholar

BME undergrad Daniel Charytonowics (pictured in the middle) was named 2014 Goldwater Scholar and earned a scholarship from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, considered the premier undergraduate award of its kind. He was one of three UD students selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of more than 1,100 mathematics, science and engineering students across the United States. Presently advised by James Hoffman, professor in the Department of Psychology, Charytonowics researches the cognitive mechanisms of visual attention — in other words — how our brain collects, sorts and processes visual information.

Imm, Wessel present at Clinton Global Initiative

As part of their capstone senior design course, biomedical engineering majors Matthew Imm and Molly Wessel were part of a team that planned, designed and developed an adaptive rowing device to allow those with quadriplegia, paraplegia, hemiplegia, multiple sclerosis and paresis to operate a crew boat. In recognition of this work, the team was invited to the 2014 Clinton Global Initiative University conference in March where they shared their ideas with nearly 1,200 students from around the globe, and attended workshops and skill sessions, hoping to turn their academic project into a commercially viable technology. The team is working with UD’s Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships (OEIP) to patent their design, and future plans include further testing with a wide range of individuals with disabilities and pursuing a licensing deal with a major rowing company.

Senior design team invents teaching aid: SimuTrach

Three BME undergrads, Brad Biggs, Devon Bond and Nick Campagnola, along with two mechanical engineering undergrads were members of an interdisciplinary senior design team that developed SimuTrach, a device that provides realistic training for the care of tracheostomy patients. The project received the first-place award in First Step, a program designed to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among undergraduates, and where additional funding and mentoring will facilitate taking the project to the next level. SimuTrach has also been adopted into OEIP’s Spin In program, which matches entrepreneurs developing innovative early-stage technology with a team of UD business students to further develop both the technology and the marketing strategy.

Fox earns poster prize at Undergraduate Research Symposium

Zachary Fox was one of 19 undergraduate students from University of Delaware to present his research at the 16th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Chemical and Biological Sciences. Fox received a second-place prize for his poster “Modeling tat-protein feedback networks in HIV-1: micro RNA influence on HIV-1 latency,” which detailed research completed in Abhyudai Singh’s lab. The competition drew nearly 200 students from 12 states. Fox is now a doctoral student at Colorado State University.

Wikoff receives Honors Enrichment Award to volunteer in Peru

Peter Wikoff, a BME sophomore, received an Honors Enrichment Award to fund his trip to Peru where he volunteered with MEDLIFE, an organization that works to improve access to medicine, education and community development initiatives by partnering with low-income communities in Latin America. He spent 10 days near Cuzco, Peru, shadowing local doctors and dentists and helping them set up and man medical clinics to treat people in remote rural regions. At UD, Wikoff’s interests in biomedical engineering lie in technologies such as artificial joints and artificial organs and in the pathology of disease and its prevention.

Manning triplets graduate

BME undergrad James Manning is one of the Manning triplets who graduated together from UD in May 2014. He graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and a minor in bioelectrical engineering. As Manning enters the workforce, he said he appreciates the support he received as one of the first students to graduate with the new biomedical engineering major. “The department pulled out the stops when it came to accommodating us and giving us the tools we needed to be successful,” he said. “It was an opportunity to apply what we have spent years learning, with the focus of designing and creating a solution to a problem. I wouldn’t trade that experience for any other while at UD.” Manning is now a product engineer in the thermoplastics division of Anholt Industries in Avondale, PA.

Summer Scholars showcase

Twenty-one BME undergraduate students presented at the annual UD Undergraduate Research and Service Celebratory Symposium this August as part of the INBRE Summer Scholars program (Faculty advisers given in parentheses). The program’s goal is to help students navigate college and seek direction for their future, as well as provide students real world experience. Roughly 390 students have participated in the program since 2002.